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Many people believe that if you do not believe in God, it would be hard for you to know what is right from wrong. But is this true? I believe that religion is getting undue credit for something that is naturally part of human nature.

The Vice-Chancellor of The Australian Catholic University wrote an article referring to atheists as part of a plague, an infestation. Marquez Comelab warns us against the dangers of religious groups having the tendency to dehumanise any group of people who contradict their religion.

Islamist terrorism may have its roots in the Middle East, but it has long since expanded globally. Indonesia, the most populous Muslim country, is no exception. Jemaah Islamiyah has for more than fifteen years fought to transform Indonesia into an Islamist state. In recent years, its terrorist campaign has suffered setbacks. As Jemaah Islamiyah regroups, it builds upon the experience of Middle East terrorist groups. From Al-Qaeda, it adopts philosophical underpinnings that guide its dual strategy. From Hamas and Hezbollah, it borrows an "inverse triangle model" in which a broad network of social services supports a smaller jihadist core, and from Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf emirates it adopts a model of charities and NGOs that help Jemaah Islamiyah advance its jihadist goals.

"There have been many arguments about the location of the immortal human soul. Could it be in the heart, in the head, or perhaps diffused throughout the whole body -- an all-pervading spiritual quality unique to the human being? The answer, it seems to me as a zoologist, is obvious enough: a man's soul is located in his testicles; a woman's in her ovaries. For it is here that we find the truly immortal elements in our constitution-our genes." -Desmond Morris in The Human Animal (1994).

For most of my life, I did not question the existence of God. My wife, most of my family, friends and relatives were all born into Christianity. We can be classified as ?non-practicing' or ?moderate' Christians. We went to church occasionally. When we did, it would be mainly for baptisms, deaths and marriages. The strength of our beliefs varied from believing that God exists to believing that religion is beneficial, regardless of His existence. Does God exist? Should we believe in God? Having an opinion on such big questions seemed inconsequential. We did not see how our lives would be impacted if we were to have an opinion on the matter. For us, there was no urgency. These questions were not as important as getting good grades, finishing studies, getting jobs or taking care of loved ones. Besides, what did it matter? We just had to be good mothers, fathers, sons, daughters and neighbours. All that mattered was that we were good to other people and that we did not inflict injury, harm, or suffering to another human being. The golden rule of treating others the way we want to be treated was our guiding thought, and to us, that was enough. But since last year, I became really curious when I realised that our beliefs, religious or otherwise, impact on our lives and the lives of others. Further, our religious beliefs permeate in everything we think and do. It is at the centre of most global issues we now face. So, I set out for a quest to try and understand our existence and find the answers to questions on God, morality and religion. My journey led me to writing a book. I have not discussed about my journey much in this blog but now that it is done, I will tell you about it. The book is called: The Tyranny Of God. One of my biggest worries in writing this book was the breadth of topics I had to cover. At times, I wondered whether I was doing the right thing in casting as wide a net as I did. I chose to proceed because, to understand the true nature of religion, we cannot limit our discussions to religious texts. Instead, we need to take a larger, macroscopic view. We need to see how it relates to human nature and to our society. We need to consult our sciences and corroborate our analysis with our history. In our struggle to broaden our outlook, we need to start from the very beginning. From there, we work progressively. We will learn about cosmology, abiogenesis, genetics, evolution, language, memes, history, current affairs and so on. The main purpose of this book is not to argue against religion. Rather, it tells our story and how we have come to oppress ourselves with the tyranny of our own beliefs. I wrote this book to include everything I discovered to be relevant in my search for the truth, not just the truth behind God and morality, but also behind us and our existence. Instead of reading this book with the expectation that it is trying to prove the tyranny of God, I would like to recommend you read it as a story book: as a book that tells the story of humanity from the Big Bang. I wanted to make this book easy to read and simple to understand, to the extent that I can in explaining some complex ideas. I also wanted it, regardless of the extensive amount of information, light enough to carry around whilst keeping important information intact. Reasonism.Org, a website dedicated to the subject matter of the book, has been created and is now active. It provides resources, including videos, articles and other relevant material. There is also a forum there where people can discuss and express their thoughts on the deep questions we all ask. Regardless of your religiousity, or lack thereof, I welcome and recommend that you visit it when you can. If you want to submit your stories and opinions there for publication, you may do so. I will be participating in the website as often as I can. I'll see you there.

SOME Muslim religious leaders in Victoria are condoning rape within marriage, domestic violence, polygamy, welfare fraud and exploitation of women, according to an explosive report on the training of imams.The report says some imams apply Sharia (Islamic law) when it benefits men but not when it benefits women, and that they hinder police from pursuing domestic violence charges. (Source)

Islamic leaders have condemned the Bali bombers in a bid to quell religious tensions after the three militants died together at the hands of elite Indonesian police snipers in Central Java today...Indonesia was tonight on high alert for terrorist attacks and mob violence, as hundreds of hardline followers gathered in the bombers' home villages in east and west Java to bury the men responsible for the 2002 Bali bombings. (Source)

Beleaguered Christians in India have "run out of cheeks to be struck" a senior Anglican bishop declared yesterday, on hearing reports that a Christian mob had hacked a Hindu to death in the troubled state of Orissa. Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, the Bishop of Rochester, called for peace, and said that the murder, conducted by a knive-wielding mob of 50 Christians, could not be condoned. But he told The Times: ?For months now, scores of Christians have been killed, homes, convents and presbyteries have been burnt down to the ground." He said: "Now one Hindu has been killed, allegedly by Christians. We do not know under what circumstances but it suggests that the worm has turned and the Christian community has run out of cheeks to be struck." (Source)